Paul Mangen was hired in May of 2009 as the men’s and women’s swim coach at Saint Leo University. The Celina, Ohio native has built an extensive coaching resume over the past 10 years.

Through his leadership, Mangen continues to guide the Saint Leo University swim programs to unprecedented heights, both academically and athletically.

The 2013-14 season started with the promise of success and the Lions did not disappoint while under Mangen’s guidance. The men’s team saw great success in Mangen’s fifth season, reaching the NCAA Division II National Championships, where they finished 17th overall. In addition, the program saw four school records fall, while setting an outstanding six Sunshine State Conference records. The men’s team was decorated in accolades as well, piling up four SSC Swimmer of the Week Awards, two national swimmer of the week awards, one Sunshine State Conference Champion, four NCAA All-Americans, two Academic All-Americans, and the programs first-ever SSC Male Swimmer of the Year.

On the women’s side, the program saw two swimmers qualify for the NCAA National Championships, where they finished 26th. The Lions saw ten program records fall as well as two Sunshine State Conference Records, while two swimmers were named Sunshine State Conference Champions and NCAA All-Americans (Nicole Weber & Stephanie Martinez). Weber also became the program’s first-ever Sunshine State Conference Female Freshman of the Year. Academics were another bright spot for the Women’s Swim program, a the squad finished 4th nationally in team grade point average, boasting two Academic All-Americans and four swimmers with perfect 4.0 GPAs.

The 2012-13 season showcased the potential of the national caliber swimming programs under Mangen, setting the tone in the Sunshine State Conference with four conference champions and establishing eight conference records along the way. I head-to-head competition the Lions swam to a 10-4 record, an improvement over the 9-5 final tally the previous year, all while breaking 22 school records.

Five Lions (Michael Cozzi, Milton Alberto-Requejo, Pavel Trenda, Matheus Assis and Gabriel Keown) led the program to a 13th place finish at the NCAA National Championships in Birmingham, Ala., earning six Top-8 swims and 18 top-16 finishes.

To cap off the season, two swimmers earned CSCAA Academic Honors and two were inducted into the National College-Athlete Honor Society. Both men’s and women’s programs earned CSCAA All-Academic Team honors and Assis was named Male Swimming of the Meet at the SSC Championships. Finally, Pavel Trenda was voted SSC Male Swimmer of the Year.

2011-12 was another step in the right direction for Mangen and his Lions. Directing the team to 16 broken records during the year, Mangen's group finished with a record of 9-5, including the team's highest national ranking to date, 21st. Additionally, senior Tim Olson placed himself in the NCAA Championships in the 50 and 100 yard Freestyle, as well as the 100 yard Butterfly. It marked the first time in program history that both the men's and women's teams finished with an above .500 record in conference (9-5).

The Lions went from 3-8 record in 2010 to a respectable 8-7-1 (5-6-1 in SSC) in 2011. Both programs finished the season ranked 23rd nationally, had six individuals qualify provisionally for the NCAA National Championships, two conference individual champions, (both set conference records), 26 new team records were set and four student-athletes earned Academic All-America honors.

Mangen was a 14-time Bluegrass Mountain Conference champion and was named the 2003 swimmer of the year.

He was selected by the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Association as the 2003 male scholar-athlete of the year. He was an eight time, NCAA All-America selection and also earned Academic All-America honors twice during his undergraduate career.

Mangen began his head swim coaching career at West Virginia Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, W.V. where his athletes captured one national championship, five NCAA All-America honors, set 13 school records and two conference records (WVIAC/ BGMC). In addition, his teams won 22 conference individual championships and three conference team titles (WVIAC/ BGMC).

After three years at Wesleyan, Mangen moved from Division II to Division I as the No. 1 assistant coach of Wright State (OH). He also served as swimming and diving recruiting coordinator for both programs. While at WSU, the program regained the Horizon League conference championship two of three years and added a second place finish. The athletic accomplishments while at WSU included three NCAA Division I qualifying swims, five Horizon League records, 13 school records, 29 individual conference championship swims, and four relay conference titles.

A 2003 graduate of Wheeling Jesuit University in Wheeling, WV, with a bachelor of science degree in Sport Management, Cum Laude, and also holds a Master's of Business Administration.

In addition to his head coaching duties, Mangen is also the Director of Aquatics and is responsible for all aspects of the Saint Leo Aquatic Center and related programs.

Coach Mangen resides in San Antonio, Fla. with his wife Melissa, their son, Jack, and daughter Reese .

Lions under Mangen...

Year

Record

Conference*

School Records

Conference Records*

Conference Champions*

NCAA Placing

2014-15

13-0-1 (.964)

11-0-1 (.958)

23

10

3

13 (Men) 27(Women)

2013-14

9-8 (.529)

8-8 (.500)

14

8

3

17

2012-13

10-4 (.714)

10-4 (.714)

22

8

4

13

2011-12

9-5 (.643)

9-5 (.643)

16

2

1

21

2010-11

8-1-7 (.500)

5-1-6 (.417)

26

2

2

22

2009-10

3-8 (.272)

0-6 (.000)

16

0

0

n/a

* Saint Leo participated in the Bluegrass Mountain Conference through the 2009-10 season.